author : Peter McLaughlin

McLaughlin gives a critical review of the debate on functional explanation in the philosophy of science that has occurred over the last fifty years. He discusses the history of the philosophical question of teleology and provides a comprehensive review of the postwar literature on functional explanation. The question of whether the appeal to natural selection suffices for a naturalistic reconstruction of function ascriptions is also explored.

What Functions Explain provides a sophisticated and detailed analysis of our concept of natural functions and offers a positive contribution to the ongoing debate on the topic. It will be of interest to professionals and students of philosophy, philosophy of science, biology, and sociology.